


Northern Cross

by HYPERFocused



Category: Sports Night/ Northern Exposure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-06
Updated: 2006-09-06
Packaged: 2017-11-29 02:24:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/681636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HYPERFocused/pseuds/HYPERFocused
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A doctor and a sports anchor walk into a bar...I suppose you could call this Sports Exposure. Or Northern Night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Northern Cross

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oxoniensis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oxoniensis/gifts).



Joel Fleischman was feeling 'at sixes and sevens' (as Ruth Anne would say), and hoped that a drink or two would help. _Anthony's_ wasn't his usual bar, but then again, his usual -- hell, his _only_ bar -- was half a world away in Alaska.

Joel wondered what everyone was up to at The Brick right now. Was Shelley mixing up someone's drink order? Was Chris playing pool? telling a story? flirting with the whole room? Had Maurice brought in a new potential business partner? How was the new doctor working out? Had Ed finished filming whatever it was he was working on? Joel might not want to admit it, but he missed them all. Sometimes New York was just too anonymous for his tastes.

It wasn't long ago that coming home to New York had been his fondest wish. Cicely was a frigid hell-hole full of freaks and fanatics, and Joel counted the days (and minutes and hours) until his servitude there was finished.) But things changed, and now it was Cicely that felt like home. It was a gradual process, he became acclimated to his new life the way a lobster becomes used to the pot of water growing hotter on the stove. What once felt like being boiled alive now just seems pleasantly warm.

God, he missed them. His strange acquaintances, turned into strong friendships. He might even call them family.

Joel didn't know why he'd picked this particular bar, except perhaps that _Anthony's_ didn't have a particular theme, and Joel hated theme bars. He'd heard laughter wafting out into the cold, and wandered in for a bit of hopeful camaraderie.

It had been a long day at work. The endless non-variety of hypertension and Xanax overdoses made him long for the novelty of harpoon accidents and supposed hexes he'd had to treat in Alaska.

The crowd was boisterous, but controlled. Joel could tell it was a group of coworkers, though he didn't quite get a feel for what it was they all did together. There were concurrent debates about sports -- but not the ones that were playing on the small televisions placed above the bar -- Greek theater, and the merits of 1970s pop songs.

"So what's your thought about all this? Is soccer a sport or a multinational anti-American plot to lure us into boredom and then steal our beer?" the voice next to him said, pulling Joel out of his reverie. Dark haired, about Joel's height, he had kind brown eyes, and a certain -- something -- Joel liked on first sight.

"I'm more of a basketball fan myself. Soccer just seems pointless."

"My point exactly, both literally and figuratively," Joel's seatmate said. "Dan Rydell." The guy held out his hand, a nice, firm grip, and Joel could already feel a spark of interest. He said it like Joel was expected to recognize him. The name didn't ring a bell, which likely meant either Dan was a former patient, or they'd gone to temple together. Either seemed a possibility.

"Oh, right. Dan. Nice to see you again. Joel, Joel Fleischman."

"Sports Night," Dan said, by way of explanation. Joel wasn't sure what he meant by that.

"You mean the TV sets? What do they play on the other days?"

"No, I mean that's why you know me. I'm on _Sports Night_ on CSC. So's my partner, Casey." Dan waved his hand toward a taller, WASPy looking guy who was busy talking to a striking blonde.

"Oh, okay." Joel didn't want to hurt the guy's feelings, but he'd never heard of it. He looked at Dan and the other man again. There was something familiar about them. " _Lone Star Sports_!"

"You've heard of _Lone Star Sports_ , but you haven't heard of _Sports Night_? You don't sound like you're from Texas."

"I'm from Flushing, but I used to watch you in Alaska."

"A guy from New York watching Texas television in Alaska. Sounds like there's a story there."

"I had a bit of indentured servitude there, so to speak." Joel gave Dan the two minute version of his five years plus in Cicely. "And Shelley -- the waitress at The Brick -- got this satellite system. Lone Star was one of the more palatable choices it could receive."

"Thanks, I think."

'It was also one of the only ones in English. The signal in Cicely wasn't great. We got a lot of stuff dubbed into Russian, or Swedish."

"Still, that could be useful if you travel abroad."

"Yeah, I can say 'Duck, McGyver' in four different languages."

Dan laughed at that. It was a nice laugh, warm and sincere. It animated his pleasant but unremarkable features, and made him even more attractive.

It was the kind of attraction Joel hadn't allowed himself to act on in since he was in school. Even then it had been a rare thing, something to tide him over until he could be with Elaine again.

He'd thought about it in Alaska. There would have been opportunity -- certainly Chris would have been up for experimentation --, but it was much too small a town. Everyone knew each other's intimate secrets, and what would have been a casual, friendly thing to him could have seemed sordid and ugly. Or worse, they might have insisted on throwing a wedding like they did for Ron and Erick. Joel might occasionally straddle the fence, but he'd always envisioned the white picket version around him and his wife. He'd always envisioned Elaine.

"So, now that I've committed the grievous sin of not recognizing a celebrity in our midst," Joel grinned to let Dan know he wasn't completely serious "how about I buy you another drink?" He motioned to the bartender. "He'll have another one of those -- what _are_ you drinking, anyway?"

"Blue drinks are half off," Dan said, by way of explanation.

"That's why I ordered Labatt's," Joel countered. "Your drink looks like something I give my patients so I can see their upper GI tract."

"Wait a minute, you mean I could have been drinking beer instead of this liquid candy?"

"Oh, but it's much more fun to watch you with your girly drinks," Casey said, plopping down on the other side of Dan. 'This'll make three. Better be careful there, or your behavior might not be ladylike." He was more than a little drunk himself, arm winding around Dan's shoulder, then getting up to weave around the tall blonde, who laughed and pushed him away.

"That's not in the plan, Casey," she said, whatever that meant.

It was subtle, but Joel could see the way Dan flinched when Casey's attention moved away from him. He wondered if they had an intimate history, or if Dan just wanted them to.

'It's getting about time for me to head home," Joel said. He scrawled out his address and phone number on the back of his business card. "I enjoyed talking to you." He left it by Dan's drink, hoping he'd get the hint. If not, at least he'd killed his bad mood for a while.

Dan was preoccupied watching Casey dance -- badly -- with the blonde, and didn't see Joel go.

* * *

Joel had been home about an hour when he heard the buzzer. "Hey, Joel, it's Dan Rydell." He pressed the button to let Dan up to his floor.

Dan looked a little rumpled, but Joel had a better view of his fine features in the warmer light of the apartment. "Hey there. I wasn't sure..." Dan looked around, and seemed to be relieved at what he found.

"Wasn't sure about what?" Joel took his coat. "Come on in and sit down."

"Let me ask you something. You didn't give me your card because you wanted to diagnose me with some malady, did you?"

"There's a word I don't hear every day."

"Malady? It's a good word. Like 'malaise' and 'malingering'"

"And 'malcontent'."

"That, too."

"But no, I'm not in the habit of recruiting patients at bars." Was anyone? What a strange question. "Besides, you look absolutely fine to me." A sweeping glance up and down Dan's body from his head to his shoes confirmed it.

Dan smiled and Joel was amused to see him flush a little. "Thank God for that. So, then..."

"So, I liked talking to you, and thought we made a connection, and I wanted to explore it somewhere more private. I got the impression it wouldn't have been welcome in front of your work crowd."

"It wouldn't. They don't know that I do this, sometimes."

"This?"

"This." Dan illustrated his words by leaning in and kissing Joel. It was just as good as he'd expected. Dan's mouth was mobile and intent.

"I was hoping that was what you meant." Joel pulled him closer.

"Look, I don't want to mislead you. I'm not - we can't -- I'm not sure what you're looking for."

"Just this, whatever it is. You're attractive and not completely stupid, and I think we're both a little lonely."

"Because I'd have to be in Alaska to be out publicly."

"Alaska's smaller than you think." Joel thought about his on again, off again thing with O'Connell, and how it had almost seemed that the _town_ was making decisions about it instead of the two of them.

"So is New York."

"Yeah, I get that. I can be anonymous here, to a point. You probably can't."

"So you're not expecting a date for the prom?" Dan joked.

"Been there, done that. My parents have the embarrassing photos to prove it. No, I just thought we could both use some companionship."

"I can do that. I'm good at 'companionship'. " Dan said ruefully. "I just can't promise any more."

"Your partner doesn't know you're in love with him, does he?"

"Casey can be completely oblivious when he wants to be."

Joel wondered about that. People usually knew more than they let on. "He's your best friend, right? Maybe you should test that theory."

"I can't risk the friendship. Even if he felt the same way, we couldn't... Anyway, I don't want to talk anymore. The alcohol's fading, and I'm close to losing my nerve. So if we're going to do something --"

Joel led Dan into the bedroom, before he could finish the thought.  



End file.
